Search

In 2013, UNHCR has also developed a Facilitator’s Guide to enable UNHCR and partner staff to conduct trainings on SGBV for various audiences in all types of contexts. Hide

UNHCR conducted missions to emergency operations in order to strengthen SGBV response in several countries including Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo-as part of an interagency mission with UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Action- and Jordan in order to improve collection and analysis of SGBV data. UNHCR also conducted an assessment on SGBV in the Syria crisis-affected countries in 2013 such as Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq with a view to producing an action plan to respond to the needs identified. Hide

Two Global Strategic Priorities of UNHCR for the coming two years will focus on SGBV by addressing provision of support to SGBV survivors as well as prevention and protection of SGBV survivors through community involvement. In order to strengthen its accountability, UNHCR also began focusing on joint monitoring and evaluation for the implementation of its three strategies on Education, Child Protection, and SGBV, as these three areas are complementary and often overlapping, and organized a seminar for protection and programme officers to this end. Hide

UNHCR continued its work, in partnership with with civil society, to ensure a holistic response for survivors of SGBV, including through establishment of safe spaces in centres in Lebanon, which are not specifically created for services provision to SGBV survivors, in order to avoid stigmatization of SGBV survivors seeking support; establishment of “centres d’écoute” for counselling services to SGBV survivors in Mali; establishment of family counselling mechanisms and community protection committees in Yemen to address domestic violence among Somali refugees; training in Burkina Faso for its staff and partners working with camp-based and urban refugees resulting in revisions to the SOP on SGBV in light of the changing situation in the Malian crisis. Hide

UNHCR, as part of the Global Team responsible for the Gender-Based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS) provided technical support in data collection and analysis to 10 countries including missions to Jordan and Lebanon. Hide

UNHCR held four regional workshops on sexual and gender-based violence, aimed at strengthening the capacity of UNHCR and partner staff in the field of prevention and response, as well as monitoring and evaluation. The workshops also included the 2011 “Action against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: An Updated Strategy” and will assist individual country operations to develop country-level strategies. UNHCR has also recently recruited four senior protection officers, being also responsible for developing multi-sectoral strategies on sexual gender-based violence at country level. Hide

UNFPA and UNHCR are in the process of supporting the Ministry of Gender in Liberia to develop a GBV Information Management System. The GBV IMS will be modelled on the global GBV IMS which is already being piloted in several countries. The work will be supported by the Global IMS surge team and locally by the Liberia Institute for Geo- Statics and Information (LISGIS). The system aims to harmonise all existing data sources on GBV and strengthen systems for storage and dissemination. Hide

UNHCR field operations continued to collect and analyze data on sexual and gender-based violence incidents in collaboration with partners, according to UNHCR and interagency guidelines and principles. However, SGBV remains widely under-reported and thus it is estimated that the number of known cases represents only a fraction of actual cases. UNHCR is working to strengthen and harmonize data collection on SGBV by rolling out the Gender-Based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS) in selected operations in 2012, including in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Chad. Hide

The establishment of Special Projects is a key development in the UNHCR protection response for survivors. They support multi-sectoral projects in 15 countries and cover a wide range of activities, including strengthening psychosocial response for urban refugees in India, provision of safe houses for IDPs in Haiti, and promotion of livelihoods for refugees in Ethiopia. Other examples include one-stop services to all survivors of SGBV in Jordan, regardless of their legal status; an agreement between the government and Lawyers without Borders to assist UNHCR and partners in facilitating legal services for refugees in Burundi; mobile courts in Uganda and Colombia to ensure that persons in areas lacking judicial infrastructure can have access to justice. Hide

Under the “UNAIDS Action for Results: Outcomes Framework “ (2009-2011), UNFPA, UNDP, UN WOMEN, WHO, UNICEF, UNHCR and the MenEngage Alliance (Sonke Gender Justice and the Athena Network), also in close collaboration with the Interagency Working Group on Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV – supported countries to address the linkages between GBV and HIV/AIDS in National Strategic Plans; building effective partnerships to achieve this; and strengthening capacity to engage men and boys for promoting and addressing gender equality. Hide